Research on the integration of long-term care integration into mainstream health care

The Foundation's Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research Program was designed to produce major works from senior and new investigators that would add to the health policy field's knowledge base.This project will document the current transformation of the American nursing home as part of the integration of the long-term care (LTC) industry into the broader health care delivery system. The researchers will: (1) document the increase in integrated health care systems that include traditional LTC providers and describe the influence of LTC providers on policy decision within integrated systems; (2) examine the influence of integrated systems and managed care on the acceleration of organizational change in nursing homes; (3) identify the access and quality outcomes in markets characterized by high levels of managed care organization penetration; and (4) suggest approaches to minimize the organizational and service delivery disruption associated with the development of Medicare/Medicaid managed care for the elderly.